Wii 2: Predicting the Launch Titles

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What Nintendo's done with its past launches might suggest what it will do in the future with Project Cafe.

By Lucas M. Thomas

Weren't we just here a month ago? It's only been a handful of weeks since Nintendo's last big hardware launch, and the ink wasn't even dry on our 3DS purchase receipts before the company confirmed the next is on the way. Wii 2, Project Cafe, Stream - whatever you want to call it, it's on its way to store shelves next year. That's another major hardware launch, and that means Nintendo's assembling another launch lineup.

There's certainly still room for Nintendo to improve in this area, as many would-be purchasers of the Nintendo 3DS have pointed to its less-than-stellar launch selection as the reason they're still waiting to buy. So what lessons will the company learn from this past month?

And what about the 10 previous hardware launches before that? Nintendo's certainly got a wealth of history to draw on as it preps games to ship alongside its next console, so let's start digging into possibilities by examining the past. What follows are some of the most influential launch titles Nintendo's ever had, across all its many hardware launches. We'll highlight what each one brought to the table that was unique and necessary, and how the upcoming Wii 2/Cafe/Stream machine can take note.

I'm lobbing you an oddball right out of the gate. Nintendo's original 8-bit Entertainment System had a diverse array of software accompany it to store shelves back in late 1985 and throughout 1986, as it rolled out availability across America. But rather than point to the obvious front-runner for consideration from that first console, I'm going to go with Ice Climber instead.

Ice Climber features two-player co-op. Other NES launch titles had two-player modes, but they were of the alternating type - one person played while the other person waited their turn. Ice Climber introduced simultaneous play, wherein both players got to be active on the same screen at the same time. It was ingenious, as it introduced a dynamic of cooperation as players helped each other scale snowy, pixilated peaks.

Or they tried to kill each other. Ice Climber also worked the other way, as instead of assisting your partner in climb you could instead race up the mountain by yourself, force-scroll the screen and cause them to instantly die. That either-way design, that kind of two-player mode that can be either cooperative or competitive at the same time, has since become a Nintendo staple. We've seen the same concept executed beautifully again and again in the years since, and recent releases like New Super Mario Bros. Wii have perfected it.

The streaming-to-handheld-screens aspect of Nintendo's next console seems most similar to games in the GameCube era like Four Swords Adventures that explored this same idea, so it's no stretch of the imagination to consider that Nintendo will once again offer a multiplayer cooperative/competitive design on Day 1. Another New Super Mario Bros. installment? A revival of Four Swords? Anything could happen.

Ice Climber was a pack-in title for the first European gamers who got into 8-bit Nintendo, but Americans are probably much more familiar with Duck Hunt. It was the flagship title highlighting the NES Zapper, the famous light gun that brought carnival-style shooting galleries into our living rooms for the first time. Beyond that, though, Duck Hunt also championed the greater concept of playing games with additional peripherals.

There's just something a little different and exciting about using something other than the standard, normal controller to interact with a game. And Nintendo has certainly milked that cow countless times over the years - Rumble Paks, microphones, the Balance Board. Even the Wii Remote was, at one time, just going to be another peripheral.

And now it actually will be. Nintendo's new machine won't have motion control front and center, but it will be backwards-compatible with Wii software - meaning that your Wii Remotes will become, essentially, Cafe peripherals. Nintendo may even release a new version of the Remote that matches Cafe's style to be able to play those old games. They brought us the Classic Controller for that purpose in this generation, you know.

What's more, if Nintendo's not entirely done with motion gaming and wants to help existing Wii owners transition into the next system more easily, it's possible that Cafe's Day 1 lineup would include some new piece of software that highlights that continuing feature. Would it be Duck Hunt? Not likely... But it could be in the spirit of Duck Hunt - a game offered for the sole purpose of championing a non-standard controller.

You should be catching my angle by now. Nintendo's next system will have a successful launch lineup if its games accomplish the same goals that its best past launch titles did for their own systems. Multiplayer will be a priority, so a game that highlights that feature is needed. Transitioning Wii owners to the new hardware, where motion control will likely be relegated to peripheral status, will be important too - there should be a game that helps that happen.

And there should be a game that simply shows off what the new system can do, visually. Pilotwings could fit that bill. Nintendo's tapped this flight-sim series three different times in the past, each one of them a Day 1 launch game for the platform it appeared on - because they were filling this position. They were showcasing the power of the hardware.

The first Pilotwings shipped along the Super Nintendo, bringing that system's Mode 7 capability into the spotlight - it wasn't true 3D, but it looked like it was, and it was miles beyond what the 8-bit NES had been able to do. Pilotwings 64 came along as the next generation was introduced, and it brought true polygons into play - you could soar over real 3D fields.

Then, just last month, Pilotwings Resort did it again. It brought us 3D in the redefined stereoscopic sense of the term, adding depth and distance to the gameplay like never before. It's no wonder it's the game being used in 3DS demo stations. That's its job - to show what the system can do.

A fourth Pilotwings could do the same for Cafe/Stream, this time highlighting HD visuals. That's nothing new for PlayStation and Xbox fans, but it will be for the Nintendo faithful - so there will need to be at least one game that is focused on presenting a pure visual delight for the eyes. Pilotwings could do it. It's done it three times before.